SCF board considers ending tenure system

Published: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 at 5:53 p.m.

Last Modified: Wednesday, February 29, 2012 at 5:53 p.m.

BRADENTON - Faculty at State College of Florida — already fearful of pay cuts this year — could lose another central tenet of their profession: tenure.

Trustees sent a shock through the college at a meeting Tuesday when they announced intentions to investigate whether the college should continue its tenure system, called "continuing contract."

The move by the new board, with six members hand-picked this year by Gov. Rick Scott, would make SCF one of the only colleges in Florida not to offer some type of secured employment for professors.

About 92 of the 120 full-time SCF teaching staff have continuing contracts, which spares them from having their contracts renewed annually. It typically takes from three to five years to be awarded a continuing contract, during which time employees must receive excellent evaluations from both students and other faculty.

Contrary to perception, tenure does not guarantee a job for life. SCF faculty with tenure can be dismissed or downgraded for serious breaches of conduct or continued poor performance. About five continuing-contract faculty members have been downgraded to annual contracts in the past 14 years, said Peg Beck, the school's executive director of human resources.

But trustees, who have expressed their desire to cut taxpayer spending and run the college more like a business, said tenure is no longer needed since faculty, like other workers, are protected by anti-discrimination laws.

They asked for a presentation on SCF's practices at the next scheduled Board of Trustees meeting in March.

"I believe people should earn their keep on a daily basis," Trustee Craig Trigueiro said. "In too many instances it seems to generate complacency. In the private sector there is no tenure."

Tenure was introduced to university systems to protect academic freedom, allowing professors to teach controversial material or do cutting-edge research without fear of being fired. Advocates argue it also frees them to grade fairly without worrying, for example, if they give a bad grade to the child of a university benefactor.

Eliminating tenure would mean that a professor could be dismissed at the end of a school year without any reason given and would make it harder to recruit teachers, said SCF Faculty Senate President Dennielle True.

"There's room in there for political retribution if you've spoken out against the college," True said. "This college would be at a distinct disadvantage."

SCF President Lars Hafner said he would like to see faculty involved in any discussions to amend continuing contracts. "I'm sure they will see our process is very stringent and is a model process," he said.

<p><em>BRADENTON</em> - Faculty at State College of Florida — already fearful of pay cuts this year — could lose another central tenet of their profession: tenure.</p><p>Trustees sent a shock through the college at a meeting Tuesday when they announced intentions to investigate whether the college should continue its tenure system, called "continuing contract."</p><p>The move by the new board, with six members hand-picked this year by Gov. Rick Scott, would make SCF one of the only colleges in Florida not to offer some type of secured employment for professors.</p><p>About 92 of the 120 full-time SCF teaching staff have continuing contracts, which spares them from having their contracts renewed annually. It typically takes from three to five years to be awarded a continuing contract, during which time employees must receive excellent evaluations from both students and other faculty.</p><p>Contrary to perception, tenure does not guarantee a job for life. SCF faculty with tenure can be dismissed or downgraded for serious breaches of conduct or continued poor performance. About five continuing-contract faculty members have been downgraded to annual contracts in the past 14 years, said Peg Beck, the school's executive director of human resources.</p><p>But trustees, who have expressed their desire to cut taxpayer spending and run the college more like a business, said tenure is no longer needed since faculty, like other workers, are protected by anti-discrimination laws.</p><p>They asked for a presentation on SCF's practices at the next scheduled Board of Trustees meeting in March.</p><p>"I believe people should earn their keep on a daily basis," Trustee Craig Trigueiro said. "In too many instances it seems to generate complacency. In the private sector there is no tenure."</p><p>Tenure was introduced to university systems to protect academic freedom, allowing professors to teach controversial material or do cutting-edge research without fear of being fired. Advocates argue it also frees them to grade fairly without worrying, for example, if they give a bad grade to the child of a university benefactor.</p><p>Eliminating tenure would mean that a professor could be dismissed at the end of a school year without any reason given and would make it harder to recruit teachers, said SCF Faculty Senate President Dennielle True.</p><p>"There's room in there for political retribution if you've spoken out against the college," True said. "This college would be at a distinct disadvantage."</p><p>SCF President Lars Hafner said he would like to see faculty involved in any discussions to amend continuing contracts. "I'm sure they will see our process is very stringent and is a model process," he said.</p>